The following are reported scams from people across Wyoming as well as other tools to help you avoid such scenarios and how to navigate unknowns of technology.

PayPal scam in Dubois: A Dubois citizen reported receiving an email from PayPal that <name redacted> requested $236.00 from their PayPal account. The email really is from PayPal, but the request for money was a scam. Thanks to PayPal’s intervention, <name redacted> was not paid. CyberWyoming note: Sometimes emails from PayPal or other financial organizations are legitimate. To check what the real email address is, you can take your cursor and hover over the email address to see the real email address in the lower left corner. For example, for the email submitted by the Dubois citizen, the lower left corner shows mailto:service@paypal.com. If you’re still not sure about the email, you can search for “<organization name> real email address”- in this example, the search shows that emails from PayPal will always come from paypal.com. Lastly, if you’re having trouble with hovering over the email address, click to forward the email (this is my favorite way to check). In the email, you’ll see the entire email address after the name. If this had been a scam email, it would have looked like this: service@paypal.com <zxk1942R3@gmail.com>.

E-470 Tollway and ExpressToll text scam: The E-470 Tollway in Colorado is warning people are receiving texts supposedly from E-470 or ExpressToll that money is owed and to click a link to pay the toll before a late fee of $50 is imposed. An example text is: “E-470: We’ve noticed an outstanding toll amount of $12.51 on your record. To avoid a late fee of $50.00, visit <malicious link> to settle your balance.” Do not click on the link, answer the text, or provide any personal data. – Brought to you by E-470 and ExpressToll

At last, large print tech help: If you or your loved ones are straining to read and understand the technology tips on the internet, theTechBoomers.com site will help. From tips on how to stay safe online to tutorials on how to safely use Facebook, Amazon, and Zoom, this site has you covered by using large print and easy-to-understand tutorials. – Brought to you by Wyoming State Museum, Digital Skills for Seniors class.

When will spam break the internet? Cybersecurity researchers wondered how many fraudulent spam messages and responses about the U.S. postal service were sent in a four month period in 2023. The answer is more than the number of legitimate USPS messages. Other researchers pointed out that if they had included all the fraudulent messages about DHL, FedEx, and UPS, it would have been many times more than the legitimate emails and texts. This led Ted Litchfield, Associate Editor of PCGamer, to write “Those undersea fiber optic cables are absolutely straining under the weight of all this pointless, malicious spam.” – Brought to you by PCGamer

Reporting Cyber Crime Makes a Difference: Brought to you by Immuniweb

• The leader of LockBit, the world’s largest ransomware gang, has been identified, charged, and sanction by the U.S. and other world law enforcement agencies.
• An operator of the Revil ransomware gang who attacked the U.S. supply chain through the IT company Kasea was sentenced to 13 years in prison. He was apprehended in Poland and extradited to the U.S.
• A Finnish hacker received a 6 year sentence for hacking a mental health center in Finland and demanding a ransom in exchange for not releasing patient data.
• One of the hackers of DraftKings plead guilty to conspiracy and will be sentenced in August.
• An international operation dismantled 12 call centers in Spain. These call centers were scamming their victims through WhatsApp by pretending to be relatives in distress. At least 21 suspects were arrested.
• Four U.S. citizens in Florida were convicted in federal court for using stolen personal information to open credit cards and bank accounts to commit identity theft.

Required notification when your data is stolen: As of May 11, 2024, non-banking financial institutions that have 500+ customers are required to notify their customers and the Federal Trade Commission when a breach occurs. This rule has been in effect for banks since 2005. No longer will you find out six months later in a news article that your name, address, credit card numbers, and/or social security number were stolen from your insurance company, investment firm, or small loan businesses. – Brought to you by the Federal Trade Commission and Down the Rabbit Hole with Red Queen (Red Queen Dynamics).

MS-ISAC and CISA Patch Now Alert: The Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC) or the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has published a patch now (update your software) alert for Microsoft products, Apple products including Safari, VMWare, Google Chrome, Adobe products, Mozilla PDF. If you use any of these products, make sure the software (or firmware) is updated.

Data Breaches in the News: IRS, Firstmac, Ascension Health, FBCS Collections, Nissan.

• Better Business Bureau Scam Tracker: www.bbb.org/scamtracker/us/reportscam
• Wyoming Attorney General’s Office, Consumer Protection
  • Email ag.consumer@wyo.gov
  • Complaint form https://attorneygeneral.wyo.gov/law-office-division/consumer-protection-and-antitrust-unit/consumer-complaints
• File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/#/
• Get steps to help at https://www.identitytheft.gov/#/Info-Lost-or-Stolen
• Report your scam to the FBI at https://www.ic3.gov/Home/FileComplaint
• Reported unwanted calls to the Federal Trade Commission’s Do Not Call Registration. Online at https://www.donotcall.gov/report.html or call 1-888-382-1222, option 3
• Office of the Inspector General:  https://oig.ssa.gov/
• AARP Fraud Watch Network (any age welcome) Helpline 877-908-3360
• IRS: report email scams impersonating the IRS to phishing@irs.gov
• Call the Wyoming Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) for assistance with potential Medicare fraud, abuse, or errors at 1 800 856-4398